Air Force announces replacement for Robins commander

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Standing in front of hundreds of airmen — now his airmen — at Keesler Air Force Base, Brig. Gen. Mark Brown gladly accepted command of the 2nd Air Force during a ceremony in front of the Levitow Training Support Facility.

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Brig. Gen. Cedric George won’t be serving a third year as commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex.

That had seemed to be a growing possibility, but late Thursday the base confirmed that he is leaving.

The date has not been set, but the new commander will be Brig. Gen. (select) Walter Lindsley. Lindsley is director of staff at Air Force Materiel Command headquarters.

George is headed to a job at Air Force headquarters as director of system integration in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support.

George will hold a place in Robins Air Force Base history as the first commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex. The unit was created two years ago as a part of Air Force Materiel Command’s reorganization.

An Air Force Materiel Command official had said it was possible George could serve a third year. Since 1995, commanders of what had been the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center served for two years.

Lindsley has served in the Air Force since 1982, starting as an enlisted man, and he was commissioned in 1989.

He will bring a wide range of experience, having served various assignments related to aircraft and munitions maintenance, and he has served as a deployed commander in support of operations in Afghanistan and Korea. He has also commanded the 498th Nuclear Systems Wing, where he was responsible for all nuclear maintenance and sustainment in the continental U.S.

Lindsley grew up in a steel mill town in which the mill closed, leaving him with few opportunities for local employment, he wrote in a 2012 column. He joined the Air Force.

“One of the things that drew me to the Air Force was its technical applications,” he wrote. “I loved electronics, loved airplanes and loved war movies.”

The column was about how the Air Force advanced his education. He said it took him six years to complete his bachelor’s degree because of multiple deployments, marriage and children, but he went on to earn two master's degrees.

“I’m grateful for this great nation, where you can go as far as you are willing to work hard,” he wrote. “I’m thankful for the Air Force who values the development of its people and created programs to help its people achieve the freedom born of education. Finally, I’m indebted to the leaders in my career who saw to it that I had the opportunity and made my dream important to them. They paid it forward, and I’ve spent my career trying to not let them down and to carry on that tradition.”